Numerous bicycle pedal arrangements are known in the art. The most common arrangement is the basic "block" pedal which consists of a hard rubber or plastic block which revolves around an axle affixed to a bicycle crank arm. These pedals are typically found on children's and other low performance inexpensive bicycles. An improved pedal is termed the "quill" pedal. The quill pedal has a main axle attached to the bicycle crank arm. The quill pedal also has approximately one inch metal extensions to which metal parallel cage plates are attached at the front and rear of the pedal.
In order to operate both the block and the quill pedals, a rider simply pushes his foot against the pedal. Only limited performance is obtainable from these pedals since the cyclist can generate pedaling power only by a pushing motion of his feet.
Attempts have been made to improve the performance of the block and quill pedals. One such attempt involves the addition of a toe clip comprising a thin metal or plastic attachment to the front of the pedal. The toe clip is shaped like the toe of a shoe and it functions to prevent a cyclist's shoe, when inserted into the clip, from slipping off the pedal. The toe clip may also be used with a strap and buckle arrangement which encircles the pedal and the rider's shoe. This permits the cyclist's feet to generate power with both a pushing and pulling motion.
Although toe clips and straps greatly increase pedaling efficiency, they also create some difficulties. The cage plate of the quill pedal rotates on an axis affixed to the crank arm of the bicycle. The natural resting position of a pedal equipped with a toe clip and strap, because of gravity, is approximately 180 degrees from the position in which the pedal is used when engaged with a cyclist's foot. In order to use the pedal, the rider must manually flip the pedal around its axle in order to place his shoe into the space between the top of the pedal and the toe clip.
New pedal systems which eliminate toe clips and straps are currently available. These systems typically incorporate a special cleat which is mounted on a cyclist's shoe and which is adapted to be matingly engaged with a special pedal body. These new systems allow a rider's shoe to exert pushing and pulling forces and, at the same time, eliminate toe clips and straps. However, these new systems are also attached to an axle which connects the pedal to the bicycle crank arm. As a result of gravity and pedal weighting, numerous problems are still encountered. The most common problem is that if the rider is not skilled at placing his foot cleat into the pedal, the pedal will rotate about its axis when it is first touched by the rider's foot. This makes entry into the pedal difficult. Although recent attempts have been made to solve the above-identified problem by balancing the pedal system, there still remains a problem in that if the rider does not place his shoe or his shoe cleat with precision into the pedal body on the first effort, the pedal body will spin about its axis.
It can therefore be seen that the presently available systems do not adequately provide an ease of entry for a cyclist who wishes to engage his shoe cleat with a pedal body.